


Taking in Strides

by barababe



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Drama, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Humor, I'll add the smut tags and others as they come up, M/M, Romance, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-02-26 03:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2637026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barababe/pseuds/barababe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small mishap slowly evolves into a taboo infatuation neither the captain of Karasuno's volleyball team nor its head coach can control. A story about growing up, hunger for forbidden passion, learning to trust the heart and making even the most difficult situations work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discommoded Circumstance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N. This is more or less suppose to be aligned with the canon timeline with one or two exceptions. So the start of the fic takes place before Nishinoya and Asashi are in the club but just after the practice match with Aobajōsai.

 8:47 pm, Tuesday

“Two twenty… two thirty… two forty...” Ah. Damn, he was short. He could tell even as he was peering into the shallow depths of his money pouch. The pork buns at Foothill Shop just outside the high school were always at the exact price of 908.42 yen per bun. Slightly overpriced but not when it was the closest convenience store around for students attending Karasuno.

It’d been that way since Daichi was a freshman, so he was usually prepared when it came to buying the rest of the team food after practice. However with the arrival of the new members, the captain’s calculations as well as his allowance was left dwindling. His parents were usually understanding of his sense of responsibility nevertheless still reminded him that the spending money they gave him was meant for him.

Well even if it meant missing out, he _was_ spending it for something he wanted, he thought firmly as he tucked his wallet away approaching the end of the slope. As he stepped up to the doors and reached for the handle Daichi noticed the ‘Closed for the Evening’ sign strung, rather crookedly, across the front.  
Looks like no one was getting buns today.

It was odd of the store clerk to close shop so early when he purposely kept it open for when all the clubs got out after late practice. But sometimes it just played out like that. He shrugged and turned around, leaning against one of the vending machines. There would be no point hiking all the way back up the hill when the other members would be down in a few minutes, so he’d wait here for them to break the bad news…

Even if he was expecting it, the muffled thud that came from behind him still would’ve made him jump. It sounded vaguely like someone falling, and while under normal circumstances Daichi would never think to ignore the sign of a business and barge in, it was safe to say this was an acceptable exception. He tentatively shook the sliding panel to test to see if the door was locked before opening it slowly.

“Excuse me.” He voiced loud enough to let his presence be known as he closed it behind him, glancing around. None of the merchandise seemed amiss, everything in its allocated place. He was about to turn around before someone caught a high schooler trying to break into a closed store when he caught movement from a familiar orange hoodie in the corner of his peripherals followed by a low grumble.

“Oi!…” His call dying in his throat as he somewhat stumbled over how to really address the stern shop clerk. Keishin. He knew his first name, he’d hear his mother say it a few times before, though he wasn’t nearly familiar enough to address someone older than him by that. “…store clerk-san! Are you okay?” He asked unceremoniously as he rushed to kneel beside the man currently face down behind the counter. Daichi’s hand reached to his pocket to call one of the public emergency numbers when the older man made an agitated grouse and he turned his head to the side.

A rosy hue had set into the man’s cheeks and across the bridge of his nose, passing over a confused but displeased face. He was drunk, huh? No accident, just a trip if he had to put two and two together. He looked him over carefully for any sign of injury in case he had to call for an ambulance, but by the looks of it nothing serious had happened. Daichi’s expression was of something similar he’d make if one of his team mates did something stupid.

“And after you’re always going on about eating properly too.”

He made an attempt of a rebuttal but it just sounded more like a guttural pissed off noise, waving him off. Looking around he had a feeling his mother wasn’t keeping the shop with him today, and he had no idea who else he’d call for him. Feeling a little lost, he looked to the door and then back down to Keishin. He knew couldn’t very well leave him out here. Especially when the clerk had always put up with their racket and even treated them all to the occasional quick snack.

“…Alright.” He sighed mostly to himself as he unslung his bag from over his shoulder. More of this stubborn sense of responsibility he just couldn’t seem to shake.

He didn’t know much how to deal with someone who’d had too much to drink but communication was always important. “I’m going to help you up now, okay? I’m going to help you to the chair in the other room.” Daichi spoke as clearly and brashly as he could manage as if talking to one of his elder neighbors, hoping it would get through the intoxication and make him understand what exactly he was doing. One arm tucked under Keishin’s arm to his back and the other hand firmly against his chest, he began hoisting him onto his feet with minimum grumbling. Something along the lines of “I can do it” and “…not some kid” while he took a wobbly step forward. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes or shake his head, Daichi walked him forward past the counter, behind the cloth flaps meant to keep customers from coming behind it.

Thankful for the years of physical labor that came with athletic practice, it was a lot easier handling the weight of another fully grown man as he swayed uneasily back and forth beside him. To his surprise there was actually a place to put him. Rolled up in the corner of the room a shiki futon was tucked neatly away, which raised the reserved question if he actually slept here? Something he’d think about later when he didn’t have an obligation to getting him to a safe place to sit.

The hardest part was attempting to juggle keeping him upright and unrolling the futon. A few tries with a last second save proved too much for the captain. He gave up on doing the two in one act, setting the clerk back down to the floor as gently as he could manage, which was somehow more or less difficult than it was picking him up.

“…Hey…”  
Mildly agitated and a little frazzled, Daichi glanced back over his shoulder at the drunken man, hands in the middle of pulling at the bedding.

He was staring absently at the teen almost as if he was going to droop off into slumber like an overgrown child. Maybe it was him mishearing things. No wait. Keishin’s mouth began opening and closing again as if he was talking on mute. Was he saying something to him?  
“Ah… what?” He asked clearing his throat, feeling somewhat trivial for humoring someone who more than likely didn’t recognize him at the moment. This time he caught the beginning of it before it trailed off but only because he leaned in to it.

“I… I still can’t…” Daichi tried explaining, gesturing his hands helplessly. The blonde responded making a displeased grunt and made a sloppy wave motion towards himself.  
Reluctant, he sighed once more before leaning in to hear him better, wary of the bitterness of his breath and how close he was willing to trade his personal space to hear this very important information. Under normal circumstances he’d never invade someone’s space like this, much less someone older that he needed to show respect to.

“Yer go softin… on…”

“What…?”

“Got something on yer face.”

“…”

Daichi blinked. Something on… his face? Keeping his eyes on him, he slowly reached up to investigate what he could possibly be seeing.  
He was beaten to it. An upturned hand reached up under his chin to clasp his face, thumb and forefingers on either side of his jaw and then…

His mouth was against his.

Daichi’s arms tensed in midair around him and his brain forgot how to process, forgot pushing away was the right reaction to this kind of situation. All he could comprehend were the disordered, firm lips pressed against his own, blocking the gasp that wanted to escape his lungs. Stunned into staring wide eyed at him, by the time his cranial functions reset the clerk had already pulled away.

Chuckling and mumbling something he didn’t catch, he took no notice of the captain bracing his stance so he wouldn’t end up on the floor with him. Daichi turned his face away, hand covering his mouth to hide however his face looked at the moment. If he looked half as embarrassed as he felt, then he had every reason to.

 _Okay calm down. Think realistically. This was an accident. He drank too much and it clouded his judgment,_ the tiny voice in his head repeated to him while he beat back the flush in his face.

The panicking part of him that wanted nothing more than to get up and leave before anything else happened was subdued only by the accountable feeling of finishing what he started.

 _He clearly wasn’t in the right state of mind,_ he reminded himself as he turned back towards him. It was almost over anyways. All he had left to do was get him onto the futon. After a few calming breaths, he was able to completely pivot back facing him.

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to kiss him again, he transferred him from the ground onto the soft downs of the bed, which was much harder since he was more than certain he somehow fell asleep on the way.

An exhale escaped raggedly from Daichi’s lips as he collapsed down next to the corner of the futon. The ordeal was more draining than the practice just that evening. With the sound of soft breathing filling the room, he let his gaze wander to the bed’s occupant. Most of the loose fringe of blonde strands were still tucked miraculously behind his headband, while the rest framed carelessly around his face. His focus shifts to his lips now and his face felt warm. Chapped and slightly parted, he could still half feel them, like a distant memory he was trying to recall. It wasn’t his first, he’d kissed two or three people between junior high and now but… It was his first with a man. And someone older than him.

A loud buzzing came from the floor, startling him from his thoughts. The phone lying there must’ve fallen from Keishin's pocket when he set him down the first time. Wondering if the evening had any more bombshells in store for him, he reached from his spot to gingerly inspect it. The name on the display screen matched the store name and from that he could guess it was his mother calling. As uncertain as he felt, he chose to answer it in case she was calling worried about him, which she was. After a bit of explaining, he was able to reassure her that her son was resting easy. She thanked him and promised she’d cook a batch of pork buns on the house to pay back the team in spite of his polite refusals.

Setting the phone sensibly on a table near the door, he felt almost surreal about taking care of situations as an adult would and then… He pressed his lips tightly together making his mouth something like a thin line. The kiss was still seared in the middle of his thoughts, and he wondered now if he should tell someone. Before he’d even come near the shop he would’ve never foreseen the snowballed events that’d turn out like this. In fact, it’d been just about twenty minutes earlier he’d been in the gym and everything had been normal.

An abrupt, unpleasant feeling surfaced when he recalled the reason he came to the shop in the first place. The team was probably all done with putting the equipment away and heading down by now, wondering where he was, and questioning why he came out of the Foothill when it was closed. He lurched to grab his bag where he left it, tripping on the overstock as he rushed to the door. By the time he was shutting the doors again, he could hear distant chatter up the road.

“Oiiiii, Captaaaaaain! Pork buns, pork buns!” Unsurprisingly Hinata was the first down, pushing his bike along with him and looking generally chipper for someone getting out of a long day of practice. Kageyama, right on his heels was determined not to lose the race that was more or less really happening between the two. “The sign says closed, dumbass fool.” He snapped aggressively, as usual, as the rest took their time catching up in front of the building.

“He closed up shop early?” Suga raised an eyebrow towards the sign.

Daichi took a few deep breaths before turning from the building to face the team. “Yes, I don’t think he was feeling well tonight.” He managed out offhandedly. Aside from Tsukishima and the vice captain, everyone made some form of whine or groan of disappointment, especially Tanaka and Hinata. Suga only stared at his captain.

“Enough. The shop’ll be here tomorrow.” He shushed, initiating the walk home for everyone by starting off down the street.

“Could it be that you’re saying that to save the fate of your wallet, senpai?”

“That’s right, that’s right! Does this mean you’ll buy double next time?”

_“Oi.”_

* * *

 

9:21 pm, Tuesday

The cicadas had begun to quiet down by the time Daichi and Tanaka parted ways on the main road. They only lived a few blocks apart from one another, so they always ended up as the last two of the team walking together, while the others had branched out to their own respective streets.

Daichi waited until he passed his street before he let his face setback to how it was before joining back with the team, which was somewhere in the mix of confusion and something else entirely. He was still trying to convince himself that what just happened was real and could potentially become an immense scandal if the situation was brought to light.  
Was it really worth it? Did he really feel like he had to share it? It wouldn’t change anything, and it wasn’t as if it was the worst thing that’d ever happened. He was a good person even with his lazy tendencies, and it just wouldn’t feel right for him to get in trouble when he never really meant to do this… Or did he mean to kiss him? Even in a drunken state, it was still possible he made that choice on his own.

Daichi took a moment to unscramble his thoughts, exhaling softly as he walked.

Along the streets of Karasuno, he made up his mind to keep this to himself as long as he could. If he didn’t think about it and kept it buried away, it would fade away.  
In the darkness between the street lights, his fingers pressed to the crease of his lips, remembering the feeling of warmth against them…

A small, wary frown crossed his features as he blushed once more, as if something in that moment became amiss.

* * *

 

10:03 am, Wednesday

_Vague and partly fuzzy memories began resurfacing in Keishin’s consciousness much later, disguised as dreams. A woman giggling with money in her hand, trees swaying. In a state of half arrousal, he could partially recognize he was still sleeping. They were coming in piece by piece now, beginning to blur into each other. A man with glasses patting his shoulder, a familiar counter, someone’s lips. They’re thin and lacking in a sense compared to some of the girls he’s kissed, but they’re smooth and so warm._

_And suddenly the lips belong to one of the volleyball members._

It was enough to wake Keishin out of slumber, though he could barely remember the dream behind the weight of the hangover. He slowly squinted his eyes open, glaring irritably at the ceiling of what appeared to be the shop. Trying to find the will to sit up, he cleared his throat as he curled himself up from the futon. He felt as if he swallowed a quart of Blackstrap, only much less sweet.

He rubbed at his eyes for a few minutes, using the repetitive motion to calm the pulsing ache in his head. Goddamn, this is why he swore off drinking booze anymore. At least with sake he could tell when he was starting to drink more than he should. He cursed under his breath and failed to remember much of anything from the night prior, only recalling meeting up with the Karasuno Neighborhood Association for after practice drinks. Clearly someone talked him into it.

His cell beeped with the ‘Missed Call’ tune he set it for, and he would bet his pack of smokes it was his mother telling him he was late for his shift, which he didn’t doubt in the least. After a couple more minutes of collecting and convincing himself to get up, he staggered up to his phone sitting tidily on the table. Never remembering how it came to be there, nor the odd dreams drifting out of his consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of this little installment! I've already started the second chapter and have much of it already planned out. Also if you're wondering why this pairing of all things, all I can tell you is they interact real well together imo. 
> 
> There was none when I looked so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Besides, there needs to be more pairing varieties in this fandom and I'm a sucker for sneaking teacher/student relationships, what can I say? Call it a guilty pleasure fic.


	2. Unavoidable Confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind when I mention money it's in yen! It will always be in yen.

7:36 am, Monday

The squeaks of a dozen sneakers were a little too sharp for how dark it was outside.  After coming back from working on the family farm, it wasn’t the best greeting for the instructor of Karasuno’s Boys’ Volleyball team. It’d been three weeks since Keshin had started his third job as a high school coach. Tending the shop and working at the farm being the first two.

So far it had proven to be one of the best decisions he’d made in a while, not that he was willing to admit it since he’d put up such a fight against Takeda-sensei. And even with the shutout against Nekoma, it only drove his vigor more into seeing the team succeed. Who knew all this time  _this_  would be the thing he was good at?

Yet in the midst of this, something wasn’t quite right. Everything with the team seemed in order aside from one detail that bugged him like prickled skin. He knew these kids before he’d agreed to be their coach and they’d had always stayed on his good side but…

Things seemed to be almost stale between him and Sawamura, if that’s what he wanted to call it. Which didn’t make any sense. He’d been acquainted with the three seniors back when the old man still taught here and out of the three of them, he was on most friendly terms with him.

Always jumping to scold his team on how much noise they were making before Keishin could get up from the counter. He’d even talk to him about the stats of the big league teams when they got the chance, and he’d always ask to see if he was eating right. And now he would hardly spare a few words outside of what was needed between coach and captain communication.

This behavior started about three weeks ago when he first agreed to the team so it was the only thing that made sense to have been the cause. If it’d been any other high school punk, he’d understand where this was coming from. If the team had been relying on them up until now, overriding their captain authority by some store clerk might miff one or two kids.

But he knew Sawamura. Mature, holding a strong sense of responsibility, an easygoing personality, to top it off with a passionate spirit that put fire into other’s hearts. He was easily the most likeable of the team (Sugawara coming in for a close second) and the type of person Keishin would’ve admired back when he was still in school.

But if he really did have a problem with him coaching, it would be a huge headache and no doubt a complete unpleasant experience. He wanted to be the first to know why, and figure out how to fix it.

"Ukai-kun are you in deep thought?" The sound of his name roping him out of just that, he glanced up from the fold out chair to Takeda, two coffees in his hand and a slight quirk of his head.

"Er yeah, something like that." He answered, thanking him and taking his so the other could sit down. He turned his attention back to the team and called out to change the training exercise to laps, like he should’ve been this whole time he was staring off at the back wall.

After a few slips to chase the morning grog away, he spoke up again.

"Do your think the team’s taking to me?"

"Ah, what do you mean?"

"I mean do you think they actually want me around?"

"Wah!!"

The startling noise was enough to make him and even a few of the team members look over to him. He was peering at Keishin over his frames as if he’d discovered the answer to something.

"…I would’ve never guessed you were such a self conscious person Ukai-kun."

"It’s not like that, get to the point!"

Takeda cleared his throat and addressed him with a more solemn tone. “Of course I think they want you around. You’re helping them guide their talents in ways that wouldn’t have been possible before. You’re not just a mentor, but a role model as well! Coaches are one of the most inspirational figures in a young student’s life and they’ll probably reminisce about you for years to come.”

He paused for a moment or two before realizing he’d gone on quite a bit. “S-Sorry! Did I go on too much?”

"A little."

"Gah! Sorry, sorry I didn’t mean—"

"But it’s sort of a relief to hear." He interjected, taking another sip from the paper cup.

He made a decent point through all his teacherly wisdom speech. Unless he wasn’t doing right by them when it came to games, there’d be no reason to reject the idea of him being coach.

"If I may ask, what brought this on so suddenly?"

He tossed the idea of telling him around in his head before shrugging.

"I’ve notice Sawamura hasn’t really warmed up to the idea yet is’all."

"Really? That’s a bit surprising…"

Keishin glanced at him once more wondering what he knew exactly that he didn’t. “And how do you figure that?”

"Well he went out of his way to pull me aside and personally thank me for convincing you to coach. He said it’d really boost the teams’ moral."

"…He said that?"

"Yes!"

"Specifically about me?"

"Well yes, he was the one asking me to find a coach as soon as possible."

Of course this information was presented to him as a ways to relieve him but in reality it made him even more agitated. Then what the hell’s that kid’s problem?

He downed his drink a little too fast and rounded up the team to finish morning practice. It looked like he’d have to go his original plan and confront the problem directly.

* * *

 

7:55 am, Monday

The chatter in the club room was a familiar hum that made winding down from practice easier before the rest of the school day. Daichi took his time tugging on his shoes while the others carried on about their blocks and spikes of that morning.

"Huh. Do you think it’ll rain today?" Suga quipped, peering up through the curtains, making Asashi’s face turn to distressed.

"No don’t say that, it can’t rain today! I left my umbrella at my house…"

"Well who’s fault is that? Honestly. A greenhorn getting scared over some falling rain water."

"I’m not scared of something like that!" He sputtered eliciting laughs from the rest of the team.

A curt tap from the window was enough to subdue the laughing for now, and brought their attention from their ace to Ukai waiting outside. “Sawamura.” Came short and slightly muffled through the glass. He’d come to know that tone as well as many of his other mannerisms. That was a clear sign they needed to talk. He grabbed his bag as the team went back to talking amongst themselves and headed out at Ukai’s request.

"What is it Coach?" He asked settling his bag more comfortably over his shoulder.

Keishin made a low hum as if he was thinking and when he crossed his arms, Daichi’s attention became more acute. The seriousness of his body language was noted. He did the same thing when they needed to go over the strategies of the next game with him or when he came to him for advice how to handle an individual player. Whatever he wanted to say was something important.

"Sawamura…" He repeated again, a small grimace behind it. "I need to talk to you about something."

 _A frown too? Was something wrong?_  Daichi’s stomach began twisting itself into knots when he remembered what’d happened between the two of them down at Foothill. The week after it’d happened the captain had found himself a complete wreck of nerves, feeling at any second some unknown form of authority would appear to reprimand him. For what? He didn’t know.

Either that or Keishin himself would remember. He wasn’t sure which was worse. But in the end, he didn’t. A whole week went by without incident, changing into two weeks without much notice. By the time the third week past, his paranoia had subsided and the only that remained of the experience was the faint memories of his lips.

Except maybe not.

He felt his throat tighten as Keishin shifted on his feet once more. The tension rising between them was getting to the boiling point of awkward now and he felt his suspicions had all but been confirmed.

However, just as he began speaking the bell for class rung in the distant and he could feel his feet uprooting from their spot.

"I wanted to know if the—Hey, Sawamura!"

Daichi had turned and started sprinting towards the academic building as if he was giving Hinata and Kageyama a run for their money. Leaving him and the rest of the team that’d started filing out of the club room a little stunned.

"Sorry! Late!—Can’t be late!" He called back to him.

Keishin couldn’t believe it. It was completely unlike him to dodge out like that, especially in the middle of him talking. His shock churned into irritation and he slid a cigarette from the pack in his back pocket. Did he think he’d drop it because they were interrupted? No. He’d just have to try and talk to him later when he got a better chance. After he waved the rest of the team to class he turned on his heels, hands shoved into his jacket pockets and blew smoke from his nose so hard it burned the inside of his nostrils.

He wasn’t about to let some brat best him.

* * *

 

12:11 pm, Monday

With the darker clouds passed over, the seniors took to eating on the outside balcony of 3-4 while they could. Unpacking their home cooked meals and prepackaged convenience store snacks. The lunch was peaceful and a nice change in the classroom scenery.

"So what was that all about?"

Daichi stopped trying to pick out the last of his rice with chopsticks and looked at Asashi.

"What was what?"

"This morning. You rushed off like that."

It was hard holding in the exasperated sign when it seemed like it was one thing after the other. Bad enough Ukai possibly knew anything about the drunken endeavor that happened between him, he didn’t need Asashi of all people on his case too.

"The bell rang and I couldn’t be late, what’s more to talk about?" He answered simply wrapping up the finished lunch box.

"Ahh… seriously?" His eyebrows creased in a puzzled look, sounding generally unconvinced.

"Do I not sound serious?" Daichi shot back in his infamous stern tone, making him flinch back a little from where he was sitting with a meek noise.

"That’s never stopped you before."

Immune to his frightening stare, Suga spoke up for the first time since they sat down, taking over the subject for Asashi. He too had been wondering just what the captain was thinking running away from a simple conversation.

"You’ve gotten detention twice for being late from practice and it never bothered you before."

He got him there.

Aside from having his competitive spats with the basketball captain, the only other times where he’d been in trouble were staying too late to talk to Takeda-sensei without letting his homeroom teacher know beforehand. Of course the young faculty advisor was horrified he’d taken any part of getting a senior in trouble and worked it over as not to get him in any more trouble than needed.

Daichi propped his mouth against his palm, putting off answering him as he looked off into the distance of the trees bordering the campus.

"It’s not as if I can afford to get anymore. You know what happens when the head of a sports club gets too many tardies."

"Was that what he was talking to you about?"

It didn’t seem like either of them planned to leave this alone much to his frustration. He was surprised the two of them would ever get this nosey about something that wasn’t any of their business. He stood up, stretching his stiffened limbs and began collecting his belongings.

"Didn’t get to find out exactly what before I left." He answered shortly and before they could think of another way to ask what he was up to, he waved them off and flung the door to the classroom open, almost running right into Kiyoko. It startled them both and he sidestepped her with a quick apology, before departing to class. She watched him go without a word, turning to look at Suga and Asashi with an eyebrow raised. Suga could only offer her a shrug and hope the next time the vice captain met with Daichi again, he’d be more open to sharing his troubles.

* * *

 

8:31 pm, Monday

The short hand ticked half past eight when Ukai blew the whistle to end the night practice. It was shorter than their normal nights but aside from the eager freshmen, the members didn’t mind wrapping things up. The truth in the matter was Keishin wanted enough time to properly talk to Sawamura without interrupting the entire team and making an unnecessary scene.

While Keishin overlooked the kohai’s after clean up, taking the net down and collecting the stray practice balls, he kept the captain in his right side peripheral. He didn’t know how a simple talk had transformed into a competitive fixture in his head but it didn’t mean much to him. All he knew was he wouldn’t give him the chance to get out of this.

"Ah coach? Are you busy?" Sugawara asked, emerging from leaving the mats rolled up in the closet.

"Not very. What’s on your mind?" He answered turning to the young setter. Ever since the talk during Golden Week, Suga was the other senior he could hold a conversation outside of official business. He’d come to him asking about the lineup for the upcoming practices, if he could slip into a game without treading on Kageyama’s exchange with Hinata. Knowing the frustration with sitting out your senior year, he promised him he’d go over the strategies and see what he could do. It was enough for him and he thanked him, heading back towards the west exit.

Keishin nodded contently turning back to check on…

No. That didn’t just happen.

He whipped his head and snapped at one of the second years. “Where’d Sawamura go!?”

"Huh? He left already."

"To… to the clubroom?"

"Ahh, no… I think he said he was going to head right home for today."

It did just happen. It seemed as if he’d done some serious underestimating. That whole exchange with Sugawara happened in less than four minutes. How the hell did he manage that? The captain was slyer than he appeared and he put that information away to be mindful of later. Clenching his fists, he just swore and continued to watch the underclassmen as if his entire plan wasn’t ruined.                                                                                     

And the latter half of the week went by only in different versions of Monday’s confrontation. Keishin tried everything he could to talk with Daichi when he was sure he couldn’t evade him. He stood out in front of the shop in the morning, waiting for him to pass by and before practice started in the afternoon. Every single opportunity, foiled in some instance. He snuck past him or something would come up so often it just couldn’t be figured as coincidental.

And it was beginning to really piss him off.

* * *

 

1:26 pm, Friday

The classroom for Friday was nearly always noisy with restlessness despite the teacher’s best efforts. There was no helping relief for the weekend and the wandering attention of captured daydreams and plans for the two days of time at home. What they could do was be thankful of the few students whose names weren’t apart of the long list of repeated offenders. Those were the names the whole class heard time and time again until the bell tolled at four.

Sawamura was never a name that was called out during Friday. Not until today.

He looked up from his worksheets to his teacher, looking confused for someone who’d been sitting quietly in his seat the whole time. She cleared her throat, glancing at the paper airplane being constructed in the third road and then back to him.

"Sawmura, you’re being excused. Coach Ukai’s here to speak to you out of class."

He was more than certain the color left his face when he looked over to the hallway where he could make out his figure. The feeling of dread branched up slowly throughout as he lifted himself from the desk. Nowhere to run now. Avoiding his attempts to talk to him while class was still in session was out of the question.

Keishin made no efforts in disguising his annoyance with him, arms crossed tight, eyes locked on him. But he did wait for him to shut the door and turn to him before speaking up.

"You’re not planning on jumping out the window are you?"

Daichi shuffled his feet. He wasn’t normally so impertinent and now when there was nowhere to go, he was feeling overwhelmingly sheepish from so obviously running away from this.

"Ah, no coach."

"Good. Because that’s the only way you’re getting by me." He informed, shifting his arms to his hips as he looked to the ground. Daichi tried not to hold his breath

"Now as I was saying before… I wanted to know if you had a problem with my position as coach for Karasuno’s Volleyball team."

"…What?"

There was a notable pause of words between them when Daichi only stared back at him. And he must’ve visibly looked surprised as well as Keishin added on to his question.

"And if you do, it’s alright. I get it. I came in a weird time in the season and I’m nowhere near what the old man could do…"

"No that’s not it! I don’t have any problem with your coaching… You put a lot more effort than I thought you would and the team’s responding well with you in charge." He quickly interjected once he’d gotten ahold of himself.

 _So Takeda-sensei was right_ , Keishin mused as he switched gears, making sure to keep his tone just below suspecting.

"If that’s the case then why’ve you been avoiding me? What’d you think I wanted to talk to you about?"

He still wasn’t out of the clearing yet. Daichi flipped through all the possibilities of how he could explain his actions besides _‘You kissed me when you were drunk and I thought you wanted to talk about it’_. He’d never been a good liar. You have to practice before your credentials are passable for something like this. So he told the truth.

"I’m not really sure how, but I thought I’d gotten myself in trouble with you." The captain answered rubbing the back of his neck.

Ukai gave him a hard look, trying to give him a window to tell the truth if by chance he was lying. But his gaze remained immovable and it wasn’t as if it fit Sawamura's character to lie in the first place.

"That’s a hell of a lot of effort to avoid getting scolded." He remarked with a hearty smile breaking the stiff atmosphere just for a moment before setting back to something more serious. He reached a hand out to clasp his shoulder. "But you know, if there is ever something that’s the matter, you know you can come to me right? I ain’t much of a guide or an advisor to shit outside volleyball but… I’ll still listen."

The warmth of the hand on Daichi’s shoulder was almost louder than the words spoken to him at that moment. But that wasn’t right, temperature didn’t have a sound. Yet the pounding in his ears had come from the palm resting on him, he was sure of it. And when his eyes fixed to his lips he was afraid his skin would set ablaze.  Recognizing the familiar warmth set against his cheeks, he staggered back and spoke in a voice a pitch higher than needed before closing himself back into the classroom.

"Thank you coach! I will—might! If something comes up! See you at practice."

A little taken aback and watching him go, Keishin sighed wondering if he was ever going to understand highschoolers ever again. He’d have to think on that later when he was outside or something, because getting to the bottom of this whole ordeal was exhausting and he desperately needed a smoke or two before afternoon practice.

* * *

 

9:19 am, Sunday

Waking up voluntarily on a Sunday morning never stood out as relaxing for the general public of sensible people in Keishin’s opinion. Even when the air was crisp and the spring temperature was agreeable. But it was rare for him to have an entire free morning to himself. Point of fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he wasn’t either working or practicing with the Association so he’d have to take advantage of the occasion while it lasted.

A carefully set phone alarm and a rich pot of coffee brewed later and he found himself settled with a paper in the top floor of the shop. If he had it completely his way, he’d be at home doing all this but with an afternoon shift upon request of his mother, he figured it’d just be easier to sleep there.

He was about midway through some unimportant article involving decline of sprinkler usage in the neighborhood when his phone began to buzz loudly against the echo of the polished wooden table next to him. He leaned from his spot to see who thought to call him before noon.

It was Yusuke. Must’ve wanted to leave him a voicemail.

"Yo." He answered the phone with a lazy tone, tucking it against his shoulder as he found his place again.

"Oh hey, you’re awake. I thought you had morning off today?" A surprised voice came from the line. 

"Yeah that’s why I’m up. I’ll have time to sleep tonight before morning practice tomorrow… sorta." He cringed at the thought of getting up before dawn five days in a row again. But it was nothing he couldn’t handle he decieted to himself.

"Anyways what’s goin’ on?"

"Well I talked to Shimada and Mori and they have next Saturday off. So I asked my old man and he’ll let me have the morning shift for that day and we were wondering if you could get off or something. It feels like we haven’t practiced in forever."

He paused skimming the lines, shifting his full attention back to the phone call. Practice with Association sounded like a nice break from his schedule and he knew he could easily ask off since he never really requested them.

"Sure, I could ask mom to cover my shift, she wouldn’t mind. And I’m guessing out for drinks after?"

He heard a laugh through the receiver. “Yeah maybe if you don’t go overboard like you did last time.”

Keishin’s face automatically scrunched in his defense and shifted his cell to the other shoulder. He didn’t really remember “last time” and from his tone it sounded as if he was in danger of him unknowingly making an ass of himself and something he should be caught up with.

"What’re you talking about? I don’t remember that…"

"What? Seriously? Learn to take responsibility for your actions." He joked before going on to explain. "Mori challenged you to a drink off and it was all downhill from there."

He winced and made a protesting groan as he ran his fingers through his unkempt bangs. Now that he mentioned it, he did remember waking up from that a couple or so weeks ago.

"Was it bad?"

"Well you did tip our waitress 4300 something."

No wonder he was so short on cash back then. She must’ve been a pretty one.

Actually now that he was talking about it, he can vaguely remember a lady laughing with a couple bills in her hand.

"How’d we even get home like that?"

"I think we crossed through the park… at least that’s where I remember walking through."

"Yeah I think I remember that too, at least the trees. After that it’s sort of…"

The words fell away from his lips as unaccounted memories of Sawamura slipped their way into his mind. Were they memories? His recollection was muddy but… Shock was vibrant through his nerves when he remembered kissing him. Kissing him? Kissing Sawamura? No this was that dream. He couldn’t have kissed an underage teenage boy. Nothing in the world could be more impossible than that. Right? Everything was so jumbled at this point, he had to halt his uneasing thoughts and go back to hard facts.

There’s no way he could’ve kissed him, he didn’t see him that night. That was the bottom line. And even if he had by some chance kissed the captain of Karasuno’s Boys’ Volleyball team, there was no way he wouldn’t already be fired from the high school and possibly arrested by now even if they were on good terms.

As intimidating as the thought was, it was logical and it made his heartbeat slow and he could start to hear Yusuke on the other side of the phone again.

"Keishin? Hello? …You still there?"

He jerked and his hand came up to steady the phone against his ear.

"S-Sorry. Uh anyways I think I hear the old lady now. I’ll go ask her about Saturday and get back with you later, alright?"

He rushed his goodbyes and let the phone fall in his lap as he stared down at the table. His thoughts came slow as he pressed the top of his hand to his lips. The timing of Sawamura avoiding him between when he had that dream until now was disturbingly close. As if he knew Keishin had dreamed about kissing him. He winced internally at how disturbing that sounded. He didn’t dream about that. Well he did but not voluntarily. Dreams were subconscious! Which didn’t make it much better. He thought Sawamura was handsome, sure (for a high schooler and a man) but he would never…

No, this was making his head hurt.

He let out a frustrated growl and violently ruffled his hair with both hands in attempt to rid himself of that train of thought. He decided going outside to have a smoke was the best go-to course of action as he often did. Getting up from the floor, he grabbed his pack and headed downstairs.

Anything to put some distance between him and those unsettling thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, second chapter's down! Thank you again for anyone's that's reading??? It means a lot to me! And for being so patient hahaha. Don't worry stuffs actually gonna go down in chapt 3. And I'm all ready to start the third chapter so I wouldn't say it would take me too long? But don't quote me on that ;o


	3. Spark of Impulse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to first say I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update this story. Between finals and me moving out, it's been harder to find time to sit at my computer before passing out. Luckily, here we are. Anyways enjoy!

7:57 pm, Sunday

There was so much to do. There was literally lists of things piling up that needed to get done, like homework, his room had to be picked up, papers for the student council had to be filled, and… He had to stop getting these weird feelings for his coach. That especially had to happen. But none of that was happening; instead Daichi was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling thinking of anything but.

It wasn’t fair honestly, he couldn’t remember how it’d come to this. It was just a mistake, it was  _just_  a kiss. But it felt like that kiss had made him more aware of everything about Ukai. His mannerisms were amplified to him since then and he felt as if he couldn’t stop paying attention to him. And when he wasn’t paying attention his eyes would still find themselves to him. The way Daichi’s skin flushed thinking of the warmth of his lips—while his own buzzed faintly for touch he couldn’t recreate—it was all so unfair.

He closed his eyes as his hand grazed his thigh, brushing against the rise of his jersey shorts. He’d been putting off acknowledging how confining they’d become but in the end he could only ignore it for so long.

He inhaled quietly, pushing more deliberately now into his hard on with the heel of his hand, making the pads of his feet push against the sheets. He clutched at the material of his shirt thinking these little feel ups were teasing at best.

A groan slipped out of him while hands slowly drifted to the rim of his waistband, his fingertips pushing barely under them. It would feel so good, if he could just let his mind wander and forget who he was thinking of. But he lost his nerve before he could and drew them away. He couldn’t do it. Grabbing a pillow, he shoved it hard into his face. There had to be something wrong with him. He couldn’t think like this.

It only made him sick.

1:14 pm, Monday

The smolder of the cigarette between his lips had burned close to his skin when Keishin finally scraped it out against the pavement. He pocketed the filter and left the front steps of the porch, heading back inside.

The only drawback to taking the middle shift between both morning and afternoon was he couldn’t smoke inside as much. His mother came in to overlook the shop during that time and she firmly believed the smoke would keep people away. She even went as far as persistently nagging him over every smoke break.

He counted under his breath how many seconds before she made a comment about it, which was three this time.

"Keishin were you out there again? You know you smoke too much."

"I know." He answers dully. It was the same line every day with this woman.

He ends up at the counter to check the inventory counts for this week, picking the paper up and trailing over the number spikes and dips. He’s about halfway down the line when he stopped to notice the ingredients for what looked like the pork buns out on the other table; something that was out of place when the case had a dozen or so already in it.

"Why’re you making more buns? We have enough to get us through today."

She turned to him from the ladder she was on and waved the duster in her grip.

"That’s for later, not for selling." She informed him as if he been foolish enough to missed the memo. 

At the sight of his blank stare she continued.

"They’re for that nice young man and his team. I promised him weeks ago I’d make them and I think he’s been more than patient."

"Nice young… Wait… Sawamura? Is that who you’re talking about?"

"Yes I think that was his name. The very polite, handsome one."

Him again? It was beginning to feel like he couldn’t rid himself of this kid with how much he’d been coming up lately.

"And why’s he getting them for free exactly?"

"Hmm?" She stopped swiping at the top shelf, her brows pushing together as if she was about to scold him.

"Because he was kind enough to go out of his way to help  _you_  to bed that night you came back from the bar with your friends. Which reminds me, you shouldn’t drink like that. You’ll waste your money away like what your uncle did and then how will you find a nice girl to marry? …Keishin are you listening?”

 _He… he was there?_  He only stared, the rest of her reprimands falling away at this new piece of information coming to light. Something that he had no recollection about but was heavily involved in.

"He was there that night?" He asked weakly, the despair bubbling up in his voice gone unnoticed.

"Yes, he said he found you on the floor. So he moved you in on the futon in the back room."

But he  _could_  recall it. Everything was there, everything added up. The pictures in his head all matched.

He’d kissed him. He’d drunkenly kissed a high schooler. And the revelation all caught up with him at once.

He excused himself and stumbled back upstairs, ignoring his mother’s protests to come back and listen to what more she had to say about his late night drinking habits.

Fuck. He was already knee deep in panic when he started thinking not to panic. Too fucking late for that.

"Fuck." He repeated aloud, walking the length of the upstairs and turning sharply to rewalk it all.

 _Fuck._ It was so obvious now! The way he avoided him, how stiff he’d been for these past weeks. Sweat beaded on the surface of his forehead and he swiped it away with the back of his arm, trying to come up with a way to make something like this better since he was lost trying to figure out why it happened.

Why he would do something so out of character of himself. He was convinced it had to have been the alcohol. He’d always known booze was bad for his judgment—it’d been a problem before, hence avoiding it in the first place—but this was hard to digest.

Though in the corner of his mind, where he could be honest with himself without anyone hearing how twisted it sounded, some part of him could admit it wasn’t completely all the drinking’s fault. He’d thought before Sawamura didn’t look bad for being a guy, and sometimes you just couldn’t explain attraction. Maybe in some dark subconscious of his mind, he had wanted to know what his lips felt like that night… But that was as far as he’d go with admitting he was aware of these messed up thoughts, and he still had the responsibility to deal with them.

He drew a shaky breath and sank to the floor. He had to talk to him again, but this time outside of school, nowhere near the campus if he could help it. God, it sounded so shady saying that sentence out loud in his head. Not that a kiss was  _any better_. He thumbed with his pack of smokes, spilling a few onto the short table next to him, before eventually lighting one. Through all this shit the only thing he couldn’t work out was why Sawamura hadn’t told someone. Even if it’d been a fellow student, the backlash would’ve still been there. It wasn’t just the sake to cover his own ass, but he was concerned about the young captain too. What sort of effect it had over him.

A week ago he’d been reminded how important of a figure he was in these kid’s life and what a powerful influence he was. And he went and literally fucked all of it up; the trust and security of being a coach. Pinching the bridge between his eyes, he couldn’t even bother the catch the falling ash from his cigarette as he dragged a stressed sigh from under all the smoke.

He was unsure of whether or not he was over analyzing an unintentional mistake or he was right to be so hard on himself, and it was starting to frustrate him even with the repression of the nicotine. He rose up from his spot with intentions to make a plan to busy himself for the rest of the day so he could stop thinking of this and actually get some work done. But with so much anxiety and doubt muddling his head he’d already accepted he wouldn’t be unwinding until this whole thing was sorted out.

8:29 am, Wednesday

The school ground was humming with students of all years enjoying the precious time of morning period before class begun. And despite no early morning practice to hold up their time, the volleyball club gathered together all the same. While most of them talked, Daichi and Nishinoya took to strengthening Kageyama’s defensive stances with a few well placed tips and demonstrations. It was amusing how seriously he took the practice to heart, hanging off every word they said when it was no secret of how little interest he took to educational material.

The senior had just enough time to come around and fix his arm positioning when the chime of the bell rung through the courtyard. He patted his shoulder and promised they’d finish their practice later as he sent him off to class.

"You’re beginning to sound more and more like a responsible adult." Suga informed with a cheeky grin. "Especially with the first years."

Daichi brushed off his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder before glancing his way. “Good, then my efforts in keeping up with you are paying off.”

"Me, responsible?"

"Mm. You went out of your way with them first if memory serves."

"Well… I am the oldest. Maybe I’ve achieved true senpai ranking."

"Don’t tell that to you know who, you’ll damage his heart."

Their banter continued into the building and up through the stairs when a small voice reached them. “Um… Sawamura Daichi?”

They stopped and turned to see one of the second year office aids standing behind them with a slip in her hand.

"Yes?"

"Oh! This is for you." Looking relieved to have found him, she quickly overturn the slip to him and excused herself to get back to the busy office. He flipped it over with his fingers to read "Excused from Class" at the top, and was about to wonder out loud what for until he spotted the signature at the bottom and shuffled it hastily away into his pocket.

"What? What is it?"

"Ah, just a hall pass. I’ll have to catch up with you in gym." He replied simply, departing from his best friend’s side without remembering to ask him to take notes for him.

The thumping in his chest was overtaking his hearing again and he felt embarrassed for himself getting eager to see him, as if it wasn’t a normal everyday occurrence. He was halfway down the stairs when he opened it back up again, smoothing the forming crease and reading it over thoroughly. It stated specifically to meet him at the planning room, what he knew to be the shop.

He hadn’t even an inkling of what Coach Ukai needed him for. With their previous misunderstanding cleared up, there wasn’t much left he could need to talk with him about unless it involved an actual strategy meeting, both of which didn’t take place in the middle of class and without the vice captain.

Yet, he knew there was no point in keeping himself wondering with random shots in the dark, and he’d have to go and once more talk to his coach.

8:46 am, Wednesday

The characters of the closed sign were the first thing his eyes traveled to, giving him a vague case of deja vu and jarring his insides. But the door was open and he forced himself to take a step inside. Ukai was right there waiting to meet him, his weight leaning against the broad side of the counter. His unsettled look had every hair on the back of Daichi’s neck stand at attention, while his arms were typically folded tightly against his chest.

Daichi weaved his way through the aisles of nonperishables to find himself standing in front of him, unable to completely look at him straight.

"Ah good morning Coach."

The attempt was there, trying so hard to break the fall of whatever was to come. And judging by his silent response, it was going to be quite a plunge. This atmosphere… He was definitely aggravated at him, he could simply tell from the underling in his hard set expression.

"Why didn’t you say anything?" He finally spoke up, after letting him stand there in doubt long enough. "I remember about that night."

There was no mistaking it. This wasn’t misplaced annoyance on something trivial, he’d hit the bullseye.

"…All of it?" Daichi asked dryly.

"All of it." He repeated back to him, solemn eye held their gaze.

So here it was, it was all out on the table and the only thing Daichi could manage out was a guilty sounding “oh”. Not that he had anything to apologize about, but the thought of keeping something from someone he respected weighed heavy on his mind these past couple weeks. 

"Why didn’t you say something?" He tried again, a deep set of concerned crossed from his face and into his tone. “Unless,  _did_  you tell anyone about it?”

"No, I haven’t spoken a word of it since that night." He assured, still unable to meet his coach’s waiting eyes now washed with relief.

"Then… you should’ve told me at least! That I did something like that…" The frustration in Keishin’s voice sounded as if it was directed more towards himself than anything.

"Tell me exactly what happened. I’m still not one hundred percent caught up in the small details. Did I say anything, how did it happen?"

In that moment, Daichi was sure nothing in the world would ever be more uncomfortable than the thought of recounting the events in these circumstances, but there didn’t seem to be any other way to go about it.

"I came to the shop to buy the team pork buns since the first years had joined us and I found you on the floor." He began. "And I didn’t want to leave you there so I brought you in the back room and it just… sort of happened."

"It just sort of happened?"

"Ah… yes."

"Walk me through ‘just happened’."

He was afraid he’d ask that and by now he could feel the heat making its way up his neck, brimming against the outside tips of his ears, threatening to almost make an appearance on his face.

"I set you down to unfold the futon and you started trying to tell me something and you wanted me to lean in to hear it."

"What was it?"

"…You have… something on your face," He quoted, his face finally dusted red. ", and that’s when you grabbed my chin and…"

Now it was Keishin’s turn to be embarrassed, as he knew that phrase well. When he was a snot nosed brat his mother used to say that so she could catch him off guard to kiss his cheek since he never surrendered them willingly. Something so innocent and childish warped by a drunk idiot. It didn’t sound as if he missed or bumped into him either. He’d changed his mind from cheek to lips and that thought alone wiped away any solace that this was all some stupid accident. Even in a drunken stupor he’d chosen to kiss him and he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge that’s what he wanted at the time.

They stood there in their own thoughts for a moment, the finality of how it all played out catching up to them along with unasked questions of closure. But before Daichi could open his mouth to ask, he beat him to it.

"What I want to know is, why didn’t you tell anyone? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you didn’t but normally this is somethin’ you’re supposed to tell adults."

He didn’t need a moment to think before answering this question, decisively and almost informatively: “I didn’t want you to get in trouble.”

Keishin was honestly taken aback at his answer, as well as how forthright he sounded.

"I know you’re a good man and I wouldn’t think to judge you for something that happened by accident."

He was a sap. The compliment—it had to be the kind comment—made his chest flutter, his words somehow lightened the weight on his chest. And though he was self conscious as an adult to show it, his expression, mixed with reassurance and affection made up the difference.

"Ah… thanks for that." He managed, his hand ruffling the back of his head lightly as he willed himself to calm down from his defensive tone.

This curveball threw him off his lead over the argument and he was back to being the one who kissed the underage teenager. The kind of sinister character you’d hear on the news, and he had to stifle his nausea to get back to speaking; and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Daichi’s nerves were on edge too, and he was easily able to spot even the slightest difference to Ukai’s composure as if it was one of his matches.

"Alright. Then with that all outta the way, I think it’d be best if we put this behind us and forget this ever happened…" He caught the look on Daichi’s face and the rest of his words died before they could form. Distress was light on his features but to Keishin it stood out from what was expected. "But if you need to tell someone, we can do that instead. I wouldn’t—"

"Oh, no! No Coach, like I said before, I don’t hold this against you."

He made a face, his eyebrow rising slightly while his arms finally uncrossed themselves.

"Then what’s that expression? What’s wrong?"

He was quiet at first, going back and forth whether he really should mention it to him. All the while, Keishin didn’t push him to answer either but let the question hang in the air patiently.

"I didn’t want you to regret it and forget about it as if it was some horrible mistake… That’s part of why I didn’t say anything from before."

The notion was ridiculous, Daichi knew it did and he wasn’t all that sure if he’d found the right words to express what he was trying to convey.

"I’m a little lost. You didn’t want me to regret kissing you?"

Maybe he was misreading what the kid was telling him, but from what he was saying…

The words found their way out of Daichi’s mouth before he could have half the mind to back out.

"It wasn’t… as bad for me as you’re making it out to be." He finished slowly.

Alarmed by his words, Keishin pushed up from the counter to stand up right.

He waited for the end, the part where he mentions it’s a joke, or something else that made sense. But Sawamura only stood there, finished with what he had to say, leaving Keishin blown away from anything he thought he knew. No.  _Oh no._  These implications were a whole different can of worms he would  _never_ be ready to deal with.

And his first reaction was crushing dread.

 _"Oi… is this some sort of joke Sawamura?"_  He asked fist clenching. “What the hell are you saying? That you have some sort of… that you like me or something? You can’t just kiss someone and start having the hots for them out of nowhere, don’t mess with me!”

It didn’t feel real and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he shouldn’t lash out to him or shout, no matter how unprepared he was for this. And regret was sharp in his chest seeing Sawamura’s face twist into hurt, when he didn’t mean to be so harsh only scare him away from whatever he was trying here.

Nevertheless he turned defensive almost as fast as Keishin himself.

"You think I would make this up? I didn’t ask for this!" He flared, blush heavy on his cheeks, stopping short when he realized how rude his tone was getting and Keishin could only look helplessly at him.

"What do you want from me? What’re you trying to get from this? I could get into some serious trouble for what you’re saying and I’m not just talking about losing my position as your coach."

"Nothing. I don’t want anything. I’m not expecting you to do something about this. I just… wanted to be honest with you." He answered in short fragments, giving hints it was much harder saying these things than it looked.

What was with this kid? The honesty and his genuine words had Keishin staggered over something as simple as sincerity. He couldn’t place the last time anyone was interested in getting involved with him solely for him, not for a one night stand or messing around. Probably high school if he thought back further enough.

He finally walked forward, resting his hand on his shoulder as Daichi’s face tinted pink again from the contact.

"Listen Sawamura, you’re a handsome looking guy and you have a good heart. I’m sure if you tried you could get any girl… er, or guy your own age. And I’ll be honest with you too, I’m flattered you think like that about me. I’ve never been involved with guys before but hell, if I was seven years younger I… uh, well maybe there…"

Despite his flush face and slumped shoulders, there was a quick flicker of hope in Daichi’s eyes that made Keishin realize he’d said too much. Too much of something he wanted to keep private, and he immediately made an attempt to cover it up.

"But since, that’s not that, we should think of putting this behind us and going back to coach and student." He hastily added, retracting his hand from his shoulder and turning away, only for Daichi to reach out and grab his arm.

"Wait!"

"I didn’t mean anything by it."

"But you are attracted to me?" Daichi presses on, trying to get something more than a few insinuations out of what he just heard, thinking maybe all this mortification might’ve been worth it.

"No, what I feel for you is admiration, for your team skills and your leadership." He says, as if he was making an evaluation on an official assessment. It was starting to become clear he was grasping for a way out of this, giving Daichi hope with every strain and obvious duck away from the subject.

"Then why did you kiss me?"

Keishin sputtered, looking over his shoulder at this high schooler in outrage that he would try to play that into this argument, something he couldn’t deny.

"You can’t be serious Sawamura, I was  _drunk_. I would never willing kiss someone underage.”

Even with a fairly realistic point, Daichi couldn’t back down from this. He didn’t know why it was suddenly so important to find out what he was feeling, instead of giving up on this obscure situation and get back to his normal life.

Somewhere deep in his chest, he needed to know he wasn’t crazy, that it wasn’t some school boy crush and there was actually something there between the two of them—putting aside age and circumstance.

"You said  _if you were younger_ , just now though.”

He was losing it, he had to be to let this senior actually start convincing him that it wasn’t so crazy to be attracted to someone so young. He hardened his gaze, a trick he’d gotten used to ever since becoming an adult and firmly put his foot down.

"But I’m not younger. It doesn’t matter what could’ve been or some alternate possibility to this. Whatever _this_  is,” Gesturing his hand in a general motion. “, we can’t have.”

"Why not?" Daichi’s reply came softer than he intended, though his determination still unswayed from the look on his face.

"You’re in high school."

"So?"

"Don’t just say  _so_  like doesn’t mean anything, because it means  _something!_ ”

"No one would know, you wouldn’t get in trouble. I’d make sure it stayed between us and work hard to keep it hidden." He reasoned. His eyes fierce and trustworthy, the same eyes that promised to back up his teammates every game, every receive. And it was enough to make Keishin falter, any retaliation stuck in his throat.

He wasn’t sure why he did it. Maybe it was to prove a point or a pure impulsive action. But for whatever reason, Daichi used that pause and pulled himself up on his toes to meet Keishin’s lips for a second time.

He made a startled noise of protest and tried pulling back from him, but Daichi’s hand held tight to the fabric of his jacket, keeping him in the kiss. It was almost parallel to weeks ago when it all started.

It was fumbled and clumsy but the warmth was unreal, far better than what Daichi remembered. Keishin’s waist dug into the counter from the weight of the teen pressing himself into him, using his hand to find the ledge and steady himself. And he kissed him. Kissed him until there was no oxygen left in his lungs and stars were dancing behind his eyes.

He kissed him until strong hands closed around his wrists and pulled him back from him, both red faced from the missing air stolen from one another.

Horrified at what he’d done, he waited for Keishin to catch his breath for the consequences of his actions. And from the look on his face, he wasn’t getting off lightly. Extremely pissed off along with something hazy about his eyes, he growled through his teeth.

"You damned brat." Was all he muttered before pulling him back into the kiss, and nothing made sense anymore.

With his wrists still enclosed in Keishin’s hands, Daichi was left with no sense of balance and had to take steps behind him to keep from falling. Eventually Keishin found solid surface against the wall for him and slammed his hands on either side of his head; while Daichi struggled to grasp if this was all really happening and not some vivid dream.

 _This_  wasn’t clumsy, this was something far more dangerous; his lips pressed and moved in such a way, it put Daichi’s earlier attempts to shame. Between the wall and Ukai, he felt pinned under him feeling a wave of heat surge through his body and down his spine.

He never knew it could feel this good, this satisfying kissing someone else—no, him. He couldn’t even recall any of his other memorable kisses before this point.

Through his confusion and inexperience, Daichi tried his best to return the attention he was being given. He nipped at the man’s chapped lips experimentally and it was received with incredible amount of enthusiasm.

Keishin pressed his whole body against him, only a little taller than him so there wasn’t much room to spare and Daichi was sure he was going to melt right there in that space. It was only when he let out a muffled hitch from under him when their hips met that Keishin thought to stop.

He look of utter defeat crosses his face as he gradually pulled away; faces still mere inches from one another. It was too late of course, the damage had been done. He knew he was absolutely fucked, that he’d wiped away any chance or argument he had of saving himself from this complicated mess. Particularly when he realized it’d been one of the longer make out sessions of his life and _completely_  enjoyed it. Sawamura said nothing as he gasped for breath but something told Keishin even if he could speak right now he doubt he’d be rubbing it in his coach’s face that he was right all along.

He could still put a stop to this. All he had to do was tell him there wouldn’t be any more, that it was done. It would be a weak cop out but he could play it off as if that was all Sawamura was getting out of him.

But in truth, if he was given a chance to do it again it would take a lot more out of him to refuse him. Maybe it was his hormones still playing games with him long after he was done with puberty. Or possibly his yearn for something exciting. It even might’ve been the way Sawamura looked so dazed and flushed from all the kissing. It didn’t matter, all he knew was he would probably blame this on all of those reasons later on.

"This isn’t a yes…" He began slowly and raggedly between breaths. ", but I’m not sayin’ no."

It wasn’t a complete agreement but if he understood anything about how Coach Ukai agreed to something, Daichi knew it wouldn’t take much more convincing to let him kiss him again.

He nodded up at him, wondering if it’d be weird if he thanked him or if that was too formal. Could you be formal in a situation like this? He really couldn’t be sure. So instead he requested, trying not to sound too proper, if he can kiss him once more.

He gave him a look that let him know that he was pushing it, but sighed and reluctantly gave in. “Yeah… alright.”

He let Daichi be the one to press a fleeting but gentle kiss to his lips—making Keishin glad no one could hear the sound of the pleased hum coming deep from his chest.

Before he could enjoy himself too much, in that instant he was reminded that the store has windows and he’d made out for almost a good five minutes, something that could easily land him in jail.

More fucking idiotic moves on his part as if they weren’t already piling up.

He lets go completely and takes a few steps back, trying to reign in the conversation to like it was before he’d slammed Sawamura against the wall.

"Okay no more of this in the store. We’re lucky no one’s around here." He reminds, his fingers coming up to tug subconsciously at his jacket, as if his clothes could tell the story of what they’d done just by looking at it.

It was the first time Daichi noticed they’d gone through this exchange in broad daylight and he had to fight the urge to freak out. Only finding reassurance that no one would be around here at this time.

But not for much longer.

As if he was thinking the same thing, something entirely possible with how similar they thought, Ukai glance down at his wristwatch and peered out the window in the school’s direction.

"Best you get back now I think. Second period’s gonna start soon right? That pass only excused you for the first one so don’t want you to be late."

"Right, of course." Daichi glanced about for his bag that’d slipped off his shoulder during the exchange and pulled it back to rest on his shoulder. He looked to leave but instead he shifted on his feet.

"So… we’ll talk about it later then?"

"Yeah. I’ll schedule something before or probably after our meet ups with Sugawara and then I guess we’ll go from there."

"Alright. Ah, see you then Coach." Uncertain of the best way to say goodbye, he left it at that and excused himself out of the shop so he could make it in time before the bell rang.

He watched him go, standing in the same spot for a few minutes before retracing his steps back to the counter to pick up some papers that’d fallen off.

Though honestly all Keishin could think about right now was how misplaced the words “Coach” sounded coming out of the lips he’d had in between his teeth just minutes before.

He had every intent of ending this before it even had the chance to begin, and he couldn’t even manage that one job. No wonder his mother called him irresponsible.

His throat felt dry and there was mild ache in his head from the stress that’d centered itself against his temples but memory of the heat was still undeniably there. Even as the words wrong and perverse passed through his mind, they were overcome by the want for contact.

His sense of being needed was weighing out and fear welled up behind his ribs, wondering how far he was willing to let himself take this for that one little feeling.

He felt, this could end up being the biggest misstep of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, finally a glimpse of the yaois. I don't know if it was worth the wait but at least I have everything planned out in this story. It's just all about time getting from mind to paper. Hope to have the next one out a little sooner but we can only hope on that one. Again, thank you for reading!


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